Link bus accident blamed on human error, suspension lifted

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A probe report into the Link bus accident that killed 22 people has ruled that the cause of the accident was human error. The accident occurred at Sebitoli along the Fort Portal-Kampala highway in Busoro sub county.

Following the crash, a joint team comprising Ministry of Works officials, Police, and the Uganda National Roads Authority-UNRA was established to find out the cause of the accident. According to the findings, the cause of the accident was over speeding.

“According to the on-scene investigations, absence of skid marks was an indication that there were no attempts by the driver to brake implying over-speeding at the time of the accident…the magnitude of the impact as seen from the wreckage points to the fact that the bus was moving at a high speed,” the report reads in part.

Addressing journalists at the Media Centre on Friday, the Minister of Works Gen Katumba Wamala, said that although the driver of the bus Paul Ssempagala had over 20 years’ experience as a bus driver with no recorded crash history or reckless driving, he was captured by police CCTV moving at a speed of 99km per hour above the prescribed speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour.

The driver was also captured driving with one arm while the other holding an object suspected to be a phone.

Wamala also lifted the suspension on the operations of Link Bus Company. Wamala said the decision to lift the suspension follows an investigation into the accident and adequate measures that have been taken by the bus company to improve safety.

Katumba also said that only buses and drivers that have been verified by the ministry will be allowed back onto the road.

Winston Katushabe, Commissioner of Transport Regulation and Safety, says that a monitoring tool will be used in other buses on all routes sharing information and live feeds to traffic police command centres and to the Ministry of Works.

Katushabe says that police will also start carrying out inspections of buses when they are still in terminals to ensure that they meet the standards.

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